Why New York Giants will recover

Eli Manning should return to form to stop team's recent skid

AP Photo/Tom UhlmanCan Eli Manning turn around his poor play from the past few games?

For nearly the entirety of Tom Coughlin's time as head coach of the New York Giants, the second-half collapse has been a yearly tradition. Twice the Giants made up for it by getting their collective act together by late December and going on a Super Bowl run. But they also missed the playoffs in both 2009 and 2010.

So Giants fans could be excused if their "midseason slump" senses started tingling when Eli Manning managed only 192 yards against the Dallas Cowboys, even though the Giants escaped with a 29-24 win thanks to five Lawrence Tynes field goals. The next week, the Giants lost 24-20 to Pittsburgh at the Meadowlands, which officially kicked off Big Blue's case of ultra-repetitive deja vu. That feeling only got stronger the following week, when the Giants got pummeled 31-13 by a very mediocre Cincinnati Bengals team.

When the Giants return to the field Sunday against the Packers, will their usual second-half slump continue?

To read more about if the New York Giants can stop their second-half slide, plus to get access to all of our NFL coverage, sign up for ESPN Insider.